60: Chapter 60 The Magical Family of Bala City

Frederica was an extremely rational elf.

Facing even the most difficult predicament, as long as there was a way to solve it, she would eventually make it through, no matter how rugged the path.

But if she determined it was a dead end that couldn't be overcome, or if it required gambling her life just for a chance to scale the wall, she would resolutely give up.

Even if the "treasure" behind the wall was exceptionally precious and she had paid a high price to reach it, she would still calmly accept failure and turn away without hesitation.

She practiced this style of conduct based on the principle of "cherishing life."

Her clansmen said she was cowardly and lacked the courage to break through difficulties, but Frederica did not agree with this evaluation.

It wasn't that she denied it because she felt mocked or belittled, but rather, she believed that life was precious.

To be alive meant being able to walk, run, jump, and also to laugh, cry, feel joy, and anger.

These were the ordinary, innate abilities of every living being, like breathing—an instinct so natural that one hardly noticed it unless it was mentioned.

But these instincts, so common they couldn't be more ordinary, were the "divine authority" that a stone could never hope for throughout eternity.

Without an external force to push it, a stone could only stay on a riverbank for ten thousand years, forced to watch the surrounding flow of water and woods until their images were practically etched into its mind.

If it were lucky.

The stone might be snatched by an eagle's talons and carried to a high mountain peak, allowing it to see a different scenery.

If it were unlucky.

A landslide might bury the stone deep into the soil; the poor stone would then be unable to see even the scenery it was sick of looking at.

Therefore, Frederica was rarely sad; a smile always hung on her face, for she was skilled at making herself happy.

Look, a stone can't taste delicious wine like I can; even if the cup is tilted, the liquid will only slide down the stone's surface.

The faint traces left on the stone's surface would also be quickly evaporated and vanished by the scorching sun.

Thinking this way, the gloom brought by Vag's disregard for life faded away.

Frederica left the tavern with a smile, muttering to herself, "One must learn to cherish life."

She strolled out of the Bala City gates, pulled a pitch-black recurve bow from her storage bag, crossed the undulating grasslands, and entered the forest.

Since she had nothing to do at the inn anyway, she figured she'd try her luck in the forest; perhaps there were herbs that others had missed.

Acting alone, she didn't intend to enter the deep areas where magical beasts roamed, so she circled the outskirts.

Unfortunately, after rummaging through the bushes around the forest's edge all day until the blue sky turned blood-red with the sunset, she hadn't found a single herb leaf.

A whole day wasted.

Frederica brushed the dead branches and weeds off her shoulders and hair, smiling. "What great luck! I stayed here all day and didn't get attacked by wild beasts. Let's head back to the city for a cup of fruit wine to celebrate."

After smoothing out her skirt armor, which had become a bit disheveled from climbing up and down, she turned to walk back toward Bala City.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Respected Mage Lord, we didn't know this was the Burg family's ter— Ah!"

"Uncle Jia!"

A faint plea for mercy came from the left, ending with a scream and a young boy's shout.

Frowning, Frederica gripped her bow and jogged past several thick trees to see what was happening.

In a small, weed-choked clearing, a middle-aged man with a bulbous nose lay on his back. Blood seeped from his ears, nose, and eyes, and his chest showed no movement.

This was a death caused by Mental Energy needles piercing the brain.

The shouting boy sat paralyzed on the ground, looking up in terror at two mages, a man and a woman about thirty years old, standing opposite him.

"To think you have the audacity to enter the Burg family's forest to steal herbs..."

"The herbs here have all been stolen by you lowly peasants!"

"Because of you, this mage couldn't find a single herb!"

Frederica roughly understood the situation.

The mana fluctuations of these two mages were very weak; they were likely practicing a Meditation Method but hadn't yet advanced to Magic Apprentices.

Being in the Mage Reserves at around thirty meant the magic family wouldn't value clansmen with such poor talent, so naturally, they wouldn't be given many resources.

They had to find ways to gather herbs themselves and commission an alchemist to brew them.

The strength of these two Mage Reserves meant they didn't dare enter the deep forest where herb resources were more abundant.

As for the outskirts, even the dead leaves had probably been sifted through by the numerous Adventurer Groups gathered in Bala City.

When the frustration of a fruitless day of work had nowhere to be vented, they happened to encounter two ordinary humans, leading to the scene she was witnessing.

Here, the boy truly thought they had misunderstood him for gathering herbs, and he hurriedly pulled out the inner linings of his linen shirt and shorts pockets.

"Mage Lord, I didn't—I didn't steal any herbs!"

The two Mage Reserves looked at each other and burst into laughter. "Hahaha... what an idiot, hahaha..."

While laughing, they mobilized their Mental Energy—pitiful to a Magic Apprentice but unbearable for an ordinary person—and directed it at the boy.

"Truly boring humans," Frederica sighed. With a sweep of her Mental Energy, she directly shattered their mental attack.

"Who's there! Don't you know this is the Burg Magic Family's territory?!"

Sensing the powerful Mental Energy enveloping them, the two quickly looked around in panic, shouting out their family name.

"This place does not belong to the Burg Magic Family."

Frederica gripped her bow handle and stepped out from behind a tree to the boy's side. "Do you want to taste the sharpness of my arrows?"

"An elf? Why would there be an elf in Bala City?" the female mage muttered in confusion, backing away.

After retreating a few steps and seeing that Frederica had no intention of attacking them, they turned and fled toward the edge of the forest in a panic.

They didn't even drop a parting threat before escaping.

They knew very well that given their uselessness, the family would have no interest in confronting an elf on their behalf.

"Trees can't run and jump like I can," Frederica murmured. The smile returned to her expressionless face as she looked at the boy who was climbing up.

"What's your name? Do you live in Bala City? Or a nearby town?"

"Corrado. My name is Corrado. We came from Umut Town."

"Th-Thank you, Mage Lord, for saving me. You are as gentle and kind as that other Mage Lord."

After thanking her, he knelt beside Jia, listened to his chest for a moment, then stood up in silence and struggled to hoist the corpse onto his back.

"I'll help you." Seeing him stumbling after a few steps, Frederica offered her assistance.

"No need, Mage Lord." A smile that looked like crying appeared on his dirty little face. "Uncle Jia had no children. On the day he picked me up and brought me home, he told me..."

"...that if he ever died out there, he hoped I would carry him home on my back and bury him under the spruce tree in the backyard."

She tilted her head and asked curiously, "Why bury him under a spruce tree?"

"Uncle Jia didn't like the sun. He often muttered quietly..."

"...that the sunlight on the Saul Continent has no warmth, only scorching heat."

"I don't understand it, but Uncle Jia probably thought it wouldn't be sunny under the shade of the tree, so let's do that."

Corrado turned and shuffled toward the edge of the forest with the corpse on his back, the body's lower legs dragging on the ground.

"Ha..." Frederica let out a deep breath. "Boring humans."

"Flowers and grass can't sigh like I can."

She smiled again and quietly followed behind Corrado until the bright moon hung high in the sky as they moved out of the forest.

After making sure those two Mage Reserves weren't lying in wait for him outside, she turned right to head back to Bala City.

Humming a tune with her bow in hand, she reached the city gates and noticed to her surprise that a large number of ordinary humans had gathered to the right of the gate.

A church Fanatic wearing light armor was saying something.

As she got closer, she could hear clearly.

"There aren't enough vacant houses in Bala City. You will stay outside the city for a while. Archbishop Haige will work hard to coordinate with the City Lord..."

"...and arrange accommodations for you as soon as possible."

"Sir, the night in the wild is very dangerous. We don't even have a wooden stick for self-defense!"

"The gods will protect you."

The Fanatic turned around, his armor clanking as he entered the city gate.

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

"Mr. Mayor, what should we do?"

The mayor remained silent. For some reason, the Knight Magic in his body had been sealed for a long time; now, he was just an ordinary old man.

Let alone magical beasts, he couldn't even handle a pack of wild animals.

And at night outside Bala City, wild animals were very numerous.

Seeing the mayor's silence, an air of despair gradually enveloped the crowd. Someone couldn't help but complain:

"Bala City isn't short of houses for us to live in. It must be because those two mages offended Archbishop Haige that we're being dragged into this."

"Don't speak ill of Mr. Zhang Mu!"

"Lia! Come back!"

"Do you want a beating?!"

"Everyone, stop!" Seeing a physical conflict about to break out, the mayor shouted and then said, "This beast tide was different."

"If Mr. Zhang Mu and that mage lady hadn't repelled the beast tide..."

"...we would have been attacked on our way to Bala City."

Eh?

Frederica, who had been eavesdropping for a while, grew interested and moved closer.

The church announcement claimed they had arrived at Kas Town in time to rescue all the townspeople.

It said the local bishop had sacrificed his life during their support to ensure not a single townsperson died or was even injured.

I thought Ms. Avril and her junior had escaped that forest... Zhang Mu? His name is Zhang Mu?

So they were the ones who resolved the beast tide.

How did they do it?

With the strength they displayed, they couldn't have handled that third-rank peak Thunder Wolf Leader.

She wanted to hear more news about this matter, but the mayor and the others changed the subject.

"We're going back to Kas Town."

"But, Mr. Mayor, we'll likely be attacked by wild beasts on the way."

"If we stay here, even if no wild beasts attack, we'll starve to death. The church won't let us into the city at all."

At these words, the townspeople fell silent, seemingly realizing it was the truth. Helplessly, they followed the mayor as he started walking toward Kas Town.

A small figure trailing at the very end of the group, huddled in a patched grey robe, caught Frederica's attention.

The thin, weak figure was protected in the middle by a couple.

A demi-human?

That couple are ordinary humans... An adoption, then...

Humans aren't all boring after all.

Frederica withdrew her gaze. Without muttering anything, her smile grew even wider as she walked quickly toward the city gate.

...

Hmm? Who's looking at me?

Lia peeked her head out of her hood and looked back.

"Lia, your ears are showing."

"Sorry." Responding, she tucked her head back in and said happily, "Mama, Mr. Zhang Mu defeated the monsters,"

"Lia's Lucky Gem must have helped Mr. Zhang Mu."

Her mother had heard her say this many times and couldn't help but smile slightly, thinking to herself that it was just an ordinary crystal gem—one could easily scoop up a handful from the forest springs.

But her mouth responded gently, "Yes, Lia's Lucky Gem brought Mr. Zhang Mu good luck."

"Mhm!"